City Council shelves parking garage at Worth lot

Tuesday

Dec 4, 2012 at 2:00 AM

PORTSMOUTH — "Bravo," yelled an audience member sitting inside council chambers Monday night after the City Council narrowly voted to discontinue any further discussion about the development of the Worth lot as a location for a parking garage.

Charles McMahon

PORTSMOUTH — "Bravo," yelled an audience member sitting inside council chambers Monday night after the City Council narrowly voted to discontinue any further discussion about the development of the Worth lot as a location for a parking garage.

The council voted 5-4 to halt any discussion on the Worth lot as the future site of a parking structure. The vote prompted raucous applause from the audience.

The contentious decision came after more than two hours of discussion and public comment from more than 30 speakers, most of whom spoke against the proposal to build a parking structure at the downtown parking lot.

The vote means that for the remainder of their term, which extends until January 2014, the council will no longer consider the Worth lot as an option for the city's next parking structure. The only way the council can bring back the Worth lot as an option for a garage would be through a two-thirds vote.

Lister championed the effort Monday night to shelve the Worth lot as a parking garage site.

Lister said he believes the council has much more important things to worry about than where to build a parking garage. "The fact is, the time just isn't right to move forward," he said.

The Worth lot dominated the public comment portion of the meeting Monday night. Residents, business owners and downtown employees turned out in force to offer their opinions on the issue.

Former City Councilor Jim Splaine was among the majority residents who spoke out against the Worth lot garage proposal.

Similar to the many other speakers, Splaine said the city should consider parking alternatives other than building a garage.

"I think we can and need to do better," he said.

Splaine encouraged the council to hold a transportation summit with other communities to discuss those alternatives.

Scott Nelson, owner of the Portsmouth Health Food Center, reiterated his concerns about how construction of a garage at the Worth lot would impact his business.

Nelson said the construction of a garage would cause irreparable damage to his business and his 24 employees. "They would lose their jobs and their benefits," he said.

Marisa Kang, an employee at the health food store on Congress Street, chose to voice her opinion to the council in a different way, by rapping her opposition.

"This here's a rap about the Worth lot, your decision should be based upon the people if you forgot, and I believe you should find a new spot, before the whales are nothing but a several-year construction plot," she rapped.

While the majority of those who spoke appeared to be against the Worth lot, a handful of speakers did encourage the council to continue to keep the site on the table.

Bob Shouse, a resident of Dennett Street, pointed out to the council that most of the opposition to the Worth lot was either employees or patrons of the health food store.

Shouse said the city would be able to assist business owners affected by construction at the Worth lot.

"They will survive," he said.

In response to the vote, City Councilor Tony Coviello said he was concerned what it could mean for the downtown in the future.

"This is putting the economic vitality of the city in jeopardy," he said.

In a separate but related vote, the council voted 6-3 against a motion to postpone any further discussion on a second garage in Portsmouth until June 2013, when other potential locations may be considered.

The vote against the motion means the council can continue to look at building a parking garage at a location other than the Worth lot. But instead of having members of the Parking Garage Site Selection Committee continue the work, the council agreed that the city's Parking and Traffic Safety Committee would take over.

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